Spooks
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Spooks Series 1: A debrief
Spooks is Britain's answer to the big US shows like 24. But who came up with the programme in the first place, and what famous London landmark stands in for MI5 headquarters? We lift the lid on the spies and their masters...
A glossy, gritty thriller for the 21st Century, Spooks takes us down the corridors of covert power in Britain today. At its core are three young MI5 agents – Tom, Zoe and Danny – who must work together to infiltrate and combat countless threats to the country's security.
Working from the slick headquarters known as "the Grid", they grapple with terrorism, corruption and the daily threat of catastrophe. Along the way they also maintain an edgy rivalry with their counterparts at MI6 – the guys who handle foreign rather than domestic affairs. It's not exactly easy, but you know what they say: this is MI5, not 9-to-5.
While David created Spooks, he teamed up with another scribe to plan and write series one. And that man was Howard Brenton, the playwright who scandalised the country back in the 80s with his debauched, satirical play The Romans in Britain. A man who wields words like weapons, Brenton once said "the theatre is a place for savage insights." And, if Spooks is anything to go by, he feels much the same way about TV drama.
This was the version of Spooks he unsuccessfully pitched to Channel 4. Then, not long after, came September 11th 2001. The intelligence services were suddenly news again, and David was able to revamp Spooks as the definitive British take on a dangerous new age. The BBC snapped it up immediately.
As well as drawing on reality, the writers and producers also took much of their inspiration from epic, ambitious American dramas like The Sopranos and The West Wing. David Wolstencroft was particularly keen to match their slick style, so he must be pretty happy that critics in the States have been raving about Spooks since it started showing there under the name "MI-5".
This seminal TV moment came about because producer Jane Featherstone and writer David Wolstencroft were worried that audiences wouldn't take notice of the show unless something truly big happened early on. Feeling reckless, Featherstone said: "Let's move the most dramatic thing you've got to episode two and kill off the only actress the audience recognise and then you've got them hooked." It was a gamble but it paid off – Spooks established itself as a programme where anything can happen, anytime.
Working from the slick headquarters known as "the Grid", they grapple with terrorism, corruption and the daily threat of catastrophe. Along the way they also maintain an edgy rivalry with their counterparts at MI6 – the guys who handle foreign rather than domestic affairs. It's not exactly easy, but you know what they say: this is MI5, not 9-to-5.
The Spooks scribes
The man to thank for Spooks is David Wolstencroft, a chap who knows a thing or two about small acorns becoming huge oaks. After all, his first foray into television came with a show called Pet Power – a piece of "factual entertainment" (as he wryly describes it) about heroic animals. A televisual masterpiece it wasn't, but it did open doors and in 1999 he created the hard-hitting drama series Psychos. Delving into the daily grind at a psychiatric unit, it established David as one of TV's brightest talents.While David created Spooks, he teamed up with another scribe to plan and write series one. And that man was Howard Brenton, the playwright who scandalised the country back in the 80s with his debauched, satirical play The Romans in Britain. A man who wields words like weapons, Brenton once said "the theatre is a place for savage insights." And, if Spooks is anything to go by, he feels much the same way about TV drama.
Spooks version 2.0
Spooks was originally going to be very different to the programme we know today. The idea of a series about MI5 agents actually came to David Wolstencroft back in the 1990s, when many were questioning the relevance of the intelligence services in the apparently safe post-Cold War age. David's intention was to make this the central theme of Spooks, a series that would show bored agents – left with little to do after the fall of the Soviet Union – spending all their time boozing, bickering and bonking.This was the version of Spooks he unsuccessfully pitched to Channel 4. Then, not long after, came September 11th 2001. The intelligence services were suddenly news again, and David was able to revamp Spooks as the definitive British take on a dangerous new age. The BBC snapped it up immediately.
Reality bites
One of the biggest challenges facing the Spooks crew was getting it all as realistic as possible. Unsurprisingly, MI5 wasn't overly keen on letting a gang of curious writers and producers poke around their Thames House headquarters, although they did reluctantly give some access. Which was just enough to allow the set designers to replicate the interiors of Thames House at Pinewood Studios. As for the exteriors – well, they couldn't film outside the MI5 building for protracted periods, so the "Thames House" of the show is actually Freemasons' Hall, the famed Masonic headquarters in central London.As well as drawing on reality, the writers and producers also took much of their inspiration from epic, ambitious American dramas like The Sopranos and The West Wing. David Wolstencroft was particularly keen to match their slick style, so he must be pretty happy that critics in the States have been raving about Spooks since it started showing there under the name "MI-5".
Spoiler alert. Read at own risk!
We're about to reveal a plot twist – but a particularly well known one. In fact, the sudden, brutal execution of Lisa Faulkner's character in episode two was the moment that helped make the show a smash-hit. While the graphic nature of the killing caused complaints to flood in, much of the hype stemmed from the fact that an apparently regular character, played by a big name star, was so abruptly eliminated from the drama.This seminal TV moment came about because producer Jane Featherstone and writer David Wolstencroft were worried that audiences wouldn't take notice of the show unless something truly big happened early on. Feeling reckless, Featherstone said: "Let's move the most dramatic thing you've got to episode two and kill off the only actress the audience recognise and then you've got them hooked." It was a gamble but it paid off – Spooks established itself as a programme where anything can happen, anytime.
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